to see why he goes next week. is he going to confess, and if to your point, can he start a comeback with this interview or more of the old lance. >> depends what he says, at the end of the day the quality of said confession is going to be important if there is one. have a great weekend, everybody. carol, back to you. >> thanks, soledad. stories we're watching in the "newsroom" new cracks in the divisive gun control debate, has the white house pushed the big players further from the negotiating table. remarks haunting this evangelical pastor, he's pulling out of president obama's inauguration. bernie kosar has new hope after struggling from effects of concussions, the treatments he calls ground-breaking. it looks like a wall of fire but the sky is not burning, it is a spectacular storm. "newsroom" starts now.

good morning, thank you so much for joining us. i'm carol costello. we begin with new questions on the white house's search for ideas to curb gun violence in america. president obama vowed to bring together the vastly divided interests in the gun control debate. today those sides seem more polarized than ever. the nation's largest gun lobby the nra is angry and apparently backing away from the conversation, says the white house isn't really interested in a dialogue. >> we knew going into this meeting what the president's position on the so-called assault weapons ban it, is, he said no we've made up our mind on that. no, there's not going to be an agreement on that. >> today we're learning the

nation's largest gun retailer is feeling slighted. walmart officials agreed to take part in the talks but in the end they didn't get to meet with joe biden. christine romans has been talking to walmart, what are executives telling you. >> well it's noted inside the company in the end it wasn't a meeting with the vice president, this meeting and the rescheduling and all that that's been contentious over the past few days instead it was with the attorney general, the attorney general eric holder met with the retailers, i can show you how many, i have a graphic, walmart, the world's largest retailer, got a lot of grief for initially saying it had a scheduling problem and would not be able to join with the other retailers and then it was scheduling of the meetings that put the retailers in a meeting with eric holder, not joe biden so you still have drama about the scheduling this meeting. >> does walmart feel like it's being picked on, in a way?

>> no, here is the bottom line. this was something that walmart said they didn't need to, they couldn't attend, they had monthly sales meetings in bentenville, arkansas, then they said they would go because of the public pressure and in the end it wasn't a meeting with the vice president, it was a meeting with the attorney general. i asked the company spokesman today, are you going to release a statement, will you tell me how those meetingings went and he told me out of respect for the process we will not be commenting about this anymore, so trying to put an end to the drama to the scheduling drama but in the end is wasn't a meeting with the vice president and walmart, it was a meeting with the attorney general and walmart after all of those schedulie ining snafus. joe biden will sit down with members of the video game industry today, the violent fantasy games always enter the discussion when young men attack

as we saw in connecticut and the colorado movie theater. biden met with entertainment executives representing hollywood broadcast and theater, that statement "this industry has a longstanding commitment to provide parents the tools necessary to make the right viewing decisions for their families. we welcome the opportunity to share that history and look forward to doing our part to seek meaningful solutions." the california high school will reopen monday, one day after a 16-year-old student shot at two of his classmates. it happened at taft union high school near bakersfield. the sheriff's says the gunman planned the attack the night before and entered the storm armed with a .12 gauge shotgun that belonged to his brother. one student was shot in critical but stable condition, the other student was not hit. brian heber, a teacher, one of two staffers credited with convincing the student to put

down his gun. he and the campus supervisor are being called heroes. >> this teacher and this counselor stood there face to face not knowing whether he was going to turn the shotgun on them, because they've seen the news media throughout our country in the last several months and they probably expected the worst and hoped for the best but they gave their students a chance to escape and converse and it worked. >> parents of students at the school describe the gunman as a troubled youth expelled last year but came back in. heavy snowfall in the area prevented the officer from getting to the school that day. in just about an hour afghan's president will arrive at the white house for bilateral meetings with president obama, these meetings come at a time when americans are tired of war, too much bloodshed, too much money has been spent on a war that to many seems unwinnable. the talking points will likely include the number of american troops in afghanistan and when

they'll leave for good. dan lothian is at the white house, these two men aren't exactly on the greatest of terms, what might be accomplished? >> you're right. some have talked about the relationship as being somewhat frosty because there have been concerns here about corruption and afghanistan, questions whether hamid karzai is a reliable partner and from afghanistan they've been concerned about the civilian casualties after u.s. operations so that sort of sets the scene for this relationship, but at the top of the list, what everyone is focused on is the timetable for u.s. troop withdrawals from afghanistan, as you know, that drawdown supposed to take place in 2014, and there's been some talk here in washington floated about that that number could go down to zero, which concerns some, even over at the pentagon defense secretary panetta saying that that would be a bad idea, but

what most likely will be is a few thousand troops on the ground and certainly this is driven by pressure on the president to whether it's political on financial pressure to aggressively draw down troops underground in afghanistan. no doubt that will be part of the discussion today and also as our pentagon folks have been reporting president karzai will be coming to these meetings with a wish list. he needs helicopters. he wants border security surveillance equipment. he wants drones as well for surveillance purposes and these are things they're telling us not to expect any major break-through during the meetings. they'll have a bilateral meeting and a working lunch and then there will be a joint press conference. >> dan lothian reporting live from the white house, of course we'll bring you president obama and hamid karzai's live news

conference. wolf blitzer will anchor special cover annuage at 1:00 p.m. east time. better news this morning about the flu. cnn's elizabeth cohen got a look at new numbers out from the cdc, numbers set to officially be released later today. the number of cases are actually down with 24 states reporting high levels of flu last week, compared to 29 the week before. however, there were two more pediatric deaths, bringing the total to 20 and by pediatric deaths we mean children of course. in chicago, flu patients are overwhelming the city's already strained hospitals though with still quite the outbreak there. here's cnn's ted rowlands. >> no nausea at this point. >> reporter: deborah cross started feeling sick on monday, three days later she ended up in the emergency room at cook county hospital in chicago, where it was so busy, she had to wait four hours to be seen. >> decided to be safe and come here make sure that everything was okay. >> reporter: several hospitals in chicago this week were forced

to reject patients for several hours because of so many flu cases. on monday, 11 different hospitals in the chicago area couldn't handle any more patients. non-life-threatening cases had to go to other hospitals like cook county, which never turns patients away. >> when the closest hospitals get overloaded they go on and it's a domino effect. >> reporter: medical experts say the vast majority of people recover after a few days of misery. >> tylenol every four hours, motrin every six hours. >> reporter: after a few hours on an iv, deborah was sent home to recover, opening up a bed for the next patient. >> ted rowlands joins us live from chicago. chicago hospitals are turning patients away, what happens if things get worse? is the city prepared? >> reporter: well, we asked that question and the answer we got was a resounding absolutely we're prepared and the reason is

with the h1n1 scare, most hospitals in the country have a plan here at cook county hospital they have a plan where they could change the dynamics of the hospital and turn it into a huge emergency room. the entire city could show up on the doorstep and they'll be fine. they think what happened on monday and tuesday of this week was that they were underestimating the flu patients and all of the hospitals today are accepting patients. >> ted rowlands reporting from the windy city this morning. thank you so much. food and drug administration announcing a dosing changes to some popular sleeping medication when prescribed to women. the fda is recommending insomnia products like ambien which contain zolpiden recommending to 5 milligrams from 10, because women don't process it as quickly as men.

it's still in the woman's body the next morning. the fda says new labeling will voice doctors to consider a lower dosage for men. a troubling week for boeing after problems surface in several of its 787 dreamliner planes. little bit later on in this hour, the faa will announce an investigation.

13 minutes past the hour. the man accused of killing 12 people inside a colorado theater last summer could enter a plea this morning at his scheduleed arainment. colorado judge ruled there is

enough evidence for james holmes to stand trial on all 166 counts including first-degree murder. planned parenthood in texas heads to court today, the group wants a federal judge to allow it to be part of the state's revamped women's health program under a new state law texas noening loer funds women's health clinics affiliated with abortion. that state law disqualifies texas from getting federal money for women's health and since federal money makes up a huge chunk of planned parenthood's budget the law effectively shuts down all the group's work in the state. ford says it's adding 2,200 white collar jobs in the united states this year, that's the automaker's biggest hiring in a decade. spokesman says a significant amount of jobs will be based in southeast michigan. watch this closely a cnn producer wanted to get video from the edge of space as part of a project. cameras and a microphone were launched from a weather balloon, also on the payload an android phone and transmitter. the producer believes the

balloon and parachute ran into strong upper level winds and the paythe low broke apart. the camera separated from other parts of the package. now watch video of the microphone hitting the ground. it actually took six months for the producer to recover the video, a man found the android phone, turned it on, sounded a message of its location, using the transmitter trackers found the camera not far away. just some cool pictures to show you this morning. he's known as a rising voice in the evangelical community but now pastor louis giglio is giving up a key speaking role at president obama's nomination after his 1990 sermon on homosexuality was posted online by the liberal website think progress. >> if you look at the counsel of the word of god, old testament, new testament, you come quickly to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle. homosexuality is not just a

sexual preference. homosexuality is not gay, but homosexuality is sin. >> after' backlash from gay rights supporters giglio bowed out and told his congregation "the issue of homosexuality is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate. however individuals' rights of freedom and the collective right to hold differing views on every subject is a critical balance we, as a people, must recover and preserve." joining me from washington cnn contributors maria cardona and republican strategist anna navarro. welcome to both of you. >> good morning, carol. >> good morning. >> maria, let's start with you, president obama needs a big tent to effectively pass his agenda, evangelicals typically support conservatives. with giglio bowing out does it

alienate this group and create an unnecessary headache for president obama? >> i think the presidential inaugural committee could have done a better job of vetting and therefore wouldn't be in the position but i commend reverend giglio for bowing out. i think it was the right thing to do for the president's inauguration. the president's inauguration should reflect the tenor and the focus on diversity and inclusion which has been a huge priority for this president especially this year when he came out historically in favor of the same rights for gays and lesbians to marry as everybody else so i think the reverend made the right decision. i don't think the white house will shut him out. he was at the white house last year at a prayer breakfast. there are other situations and forums where the terrific work the reverend has done for example in trying to prevent human trafficking around the world, which is an amazing piece of work he should be commended for, i think there are other forums where that kind of work can and should be celebrated.

>> so in other words, anna, is maria saying yeah, the president can use the pastor for other things but as far as speaking at the inauguration, forget it, because that's not right. >> well you know, carol, that's fine. look, it's his party and he'll cry if he wants to. when you throw a dinner party, when i throw a dinner party, we decide who to invite, what to serve, what tablecloth to put on the table and who is going to play the music so i think it's perfectly fine for it to reflect what president obama wants it to agree. i agree with maria that certainly the inaugural committee could have done better due diligence. it was not hard to find as it came out very quickly after he was named, and ironically, four years ago, we had a very similar brouhaha with then pastor rick warren, so they definitely could have avoided this headache and this entire controversy that has developed, but it's saying that i go back to tell you i think president obama has the right to

pick whomever he wants and put whomever he wants. it's his big party once every four years. >> i'd like to you consider what michael cromartie said from the ethics and public policy center, a conservative advocacy group he said, "what i want to remind his critics is he's not being named to a cabinet position, he was being asked to deliver a prayer. all sorts of people deliver prayers who we don't agree with on a number offisheurs." with that in mind how does the committee find a new pastor? giglio said homosexuality is a sin, not an alternate lifestyle. that belief is not different from other christian leaders. you would be hard pressed to find a pastor in the catholic faith, the muslim faith, orthodox jews, southern baptists, all of those would say homosexuality is a sin. what do you do, not include them

in the tent in. >> you can find religious leaders who certainly would focus on the fact that there does need to be inclusion and there does need to be a way to include our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in a way that a lot of other pastors have not talked about so i certainly believe could you find a pastor or religious leader that would focus on that. >> would you say the same thing about a pastor who wasn't pro-choice, should those pastors who believe abortion is not right, should they be ex-cluclu from the inauguration? >> i think it depends on what the pastor and person has said in the past, carol. i don't think that you're going to take a person who has been invited to talk at for example the inauguration and then it equal what they believe religiously, and then say well they should speak or they shouldn't speak. i think it all depends on what

they, themselves, individually have said publicly and what this pastor said 15 or 20 years ago, which he did not disavow, by the way, is pretty egregious when you talk about the kind of inclusion and diversity that this country is moving towards when it comes to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. >> ana, i'd like to you address that. do you object to every pastor, every religious man with a belief that's not yours? >> absolutely not, but i'm also not getting sworn in and i'm not the one picking, who is going to speak at my inaugural, but i think the letter you read, carol, brings up a very important point. you're right. he's not getting considered for a cabinet position and ironically enough the person who has been nominated by president obama to serve as secretary of defense has also said some pretty anti-gay things in his past. 14, 15 years ago he opposed, chuck hagel opposed a nominee

that was going to serve in the country of luxembourg as an ambassador, the size of a table, and he opposed him for being aggressively gay and had some tough anti-gay statements to make at the time. yes he apologized but apologized two weeks ago when his name was already being considered for secretary of defense, and yet it's okay to go after the pastor, but it's not okay to go after the nominee for secretary of defense, who is going to be making big and small decisions on a daily basis as we implement the complete repeal of don't ask, don't tell. that i think is inconsistent and verging on hypocriticahypocriti. >> just to be clear giglio pulled out on his own. president obama didn't change his mind and say get out. >> ana brings up a good point. we have to include people's evolving views on this. again i go back to what the reverend said 15 or 20 years ago, he has not disavowed. hagel has absolute disavowed what he said, and a lot of gay

rights groups have taken him -- >> two weeks ago, maria, a very convenient evolution. >> that's fine. >> thank you both. thank you, thank you. maria cardona, ana navarro. we actually want to know what our viewers think, that's my talk back question of the day. should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality? facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn. we'll be right back. it's called a reverse mortgage. [ male announcer ] call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. it answers questions like how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money, and more. plus, when you call now, you'll get this magnifier with l.e.d. light absolutely free. when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today,

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embrace the internet, that's what google chairman eric schmidt told north korea as he

wrapped up his trip to the country. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. >> this trip was shrouded in mystery but now at least we know the official reason why the google chairman was there, it was to further his agenda for internet freedom around the world. we are getting a few details of the trip. he met with students at kim il-sung university in the capital pyongyang where computer science students show off their web surfing skills. schmidt believes in the ability of the internet to empower citizens living under oppressive totalitarian governments. i bet he didn't pitch it that way on his trip but here is what schmidt said to some of his reporters in china. >> as the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth and it will make it harder

for them to catch up economically. we made that alternative very, very clear. >> now so it looks like he was trying to make it an economic appeal, carol, to the north koreans. he didn't meet with north korean leader kim jong-un, but the state-run news agency in north korea pointed out schmidt paid high tribute to the statues of his father and grandfather, come jong-il and kim il-sung. the state department was not blind this trip, they were not happy about it saying the timing was not great. carol? >> alison kosik reporting live from the new york stock exchange. the first ever gun appreciation day coming up next week, gun activists want to you show off your gun pride but the timing of the event is making gun control activists furious. 

good morning and thank you for joining us. i'm carol costello. it is 30 minutes past the hour. u.s. stocks are poised to open lower as trading gets under way on wall street. before the opening bell, wells fargo reported fourth quarter earnings of $5.1 billion. we're expecting earnings reports today from other major banks, ringing the bell the non-profit group iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. happening now on capitol hill transportation secretary ray lahood announcing a review of the boeing 787 dreamliner, two minor problems surfaced today, a cracked cockpit window and oil leak on two planes in japan. there was a fuel leak and fire on two other japanese-based carriers earlier this week.

in southwest louisiana, flooding from days of heavy rain forcing many people from their homes. the governor has declared a state of emergency. the national weather service says at least two tornadoes struck southwest of baton rouge, no injuries reported but more storms are expected this weekend. for many it was an alarming sight, two men walking through the streets of portland, oregon, with assault rifles strapped to their backs, hoping people would ask them about gun rights but police said they scared people. store owners scrambled to safety and others called 911. both men have concealed handgun licenses and openly carrying firearms is legal in oregon. the men said they were trying to educate people. >> we're not threatening you. we don't have that criminal behavior. >> this happens to open that line of communication to let people know you can defend yourself in a time of crisis or any time that you want to. >> if you're scaring people you're not advancing your cause,

so that's not the ideal way to try to present your point of view. >> still, portland police recommend you call 911 if you see an armed person on the street despite the fact these two guys what they did was perfectly legal. january 19th, next weekend, gun rights activeists will hold their version of chick-fil-a appreciation day, activists want you to go to your local gun store, gun range or gun show with your constitutional flags and your "hands off my guns" sign to send a loud and clear message to congress and presidentby ma. it's being held the same weekend at president obama's inauguration and it's martin luther king day. petition has been started to stop gun appreciation day, it has more than 25,000 signatures. joining us from washington larry ward, chairman of gun appreciation day and maria

rhodes founder of united for change usa, the group that started the petition. welcome to you both. >> hi, carol. >> why gun appreciation day? >> well, gun appreciation day came about because on the first day of the 113th congress there were nine gun control laws introduced and dianne feinstein according to reports is set to introduce her bill on the 22nd, and we felt like we needed to have a swift, strong response. >> and how does that figure in to preventing tragedies in newtown, this gun appreciation day? >> the second amendment is vital to our freedom and liberty, and the, yeah, adam lanza not only broke 41 laws when he went into the newtown school and killed those innocent children, but he went in with a stolen gun.

the gun control laws were there and still the tragedy happened. >> you're not suggesting people like the guys in oregon carry guns openly on the streets. you're suggesting they take them to gun ranges and gun stores. is that right? >> absolutely. the thing about the second amendment which is very important to understand is just like the police officer, a police officer doesn't necessarily need to draw his gun. as a matter of fact, a lot of police officers go their entire careers without drawing their gun but having the gun on their hollister, knowing that the police officer has a gun deters people from robbing say a store, right, and knowing that the citizenry has guns deters the government from robbing. >> maria talk about what makes this day so offensive in your mind? >> carol, the timing, there are common sense, sensible ways to

exercise your second amendment rights, and then there's theater, and i believe that mr. ward and the other organizations that are joining on supporting gun appreciation day are really focused on theater, and not on solutions. yes, absolutely, i think larry and i both agree that we want guns in the hands of law-abiding mentally capable citizens. we do not want guns in the hands of people who are mentally incapable of carrying a firearm or for those who have criminal intent, and i think too much of the argument and the discussion and the discourse this week is focused on just theater, ways that organizations are looking to fundraise and build their membership, not on keeping our family safe. larry and i both have 6-year-old children. we both, i believe, felt the

pain of seeing children gunned down in newtown, i think we both believe that there are many things that could be done differently to keep guns out of the hands of those with illegal intent. >> well let's talk about the theater issue with larry, because for some people, seeing people carrying weapons out in the open, it is intimidating. scares them. it has the opposite effect of what you're probably after. >> well, first i'd like to address the martin luther king day charge, and i want to say whole-heartedly and this is sincere, if you let me explain, i believe that gun appreciation day honors the legacy of dr. king. first of all we're looking for a peaceful protest, looking for people to come out and to let and remind the members of congress and the president how we feel about our second amendment, and the truth is, i think martin luther king would agree with me if he were alive

today that if african-americans had been given the right to keep and bear arms from day one of the country's founding, perhaps slavery might not have been a chapter in our history, and -- >> i think that is -- >> essential to liberty. >> i know maria's itching to comment. >> that is ridiculous. slavery means that you are a possession, slaves were a possessi possession, just like a gun. so to say that if slaves had been armed, first that's theater, so let's talk about the real issues. >> no, it's not theater. >> it's similar to the theater in aurora that wanted to have a memorial service for the victims there, but they forgot to talk to victims, and what they thought was a great idea became offensive. your gun appreciation day on the whole it's your right, it's your

american right, but you didn't speak to anyone about it, and i think that in itself speaks to the theater. there is selfish, self-serving intent in a gun appreciation day. if you speak to it and i've spoken to many people, thousands of people, they are outraged that you would plan your event two days before an american iconed day that we celebrate nationally who was murdered, he was slain by a rifle. i think we need to step back and really question what is the intent of these gun appreciation days, why not appreciate victims? why not appreciate the second amendment, but gun appreciation day is really a power play. that's what it speaks to me, that's what it speaks to the 25,000 people. >> we have to wrap it up right now, i apologize. >> please join me on signon.org

and sign the petition against gun appreciation day. >> and go to gun appreciation day and show up on january 19th. >> i appreciate the even-tempered conversation. it was actually a nice change of pace. larry ward, maria roach, thank you very much. we'll be right back. >> thank you, have a good one. r. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pass down something he will be grateful for. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you.

you may not have heard her name until yesterday, the new youngest best actress nominee in history thanks to her performance in "beasts of the southern wild" also known for best picture. a.j. hammer joins me from new york. quvenzhane, tell us about her. >> somebody thankfully woke her up at 5:30, and obviously it turned in to be a smart move. here is what she told us after we caught up with her. >> in the hotel room, half asleep, saw my name just rolling down like this, and on the inside i was excited, i was excited, and just sitting there, boom! i hear stuff just speaking about the film, you, me, stuff like

that. >> she is an oscar nominee but she is just a kid, carol. i love her story. it's great to see her get so long much attention. i think she'll be one of the big stories of the oscar season. hopefully she'll have a lot of fun in the process. carol, she was 5 years old when she auditioned for the movie, she was 6 when she shot it. she'll be 9 when she appears at the oscars next month so a third of her life has passed since she made this movie. >> that's a weird way to look at it but a fun way. she's awesome. let's talk about dr. mcdreamy, he was supposed to buy this coffee shop and then something happened, and now it's back on but now it's off. what's up? >> i think it's bumming patrick dempsey out. the other bidders in the process are upset over how patrick dempsey and his group won the auction for tully's coffee.

agrinurture from the philippines teamed one starbucks to form the joint offer. the bid is $1.5 million than dempsey's $9.15 million offer. agrinurture and starbucks say the bidding process was flawed because the joint offer was worth so much more. the decision is up to a bankruptcy judge in seattle. they're going to hear the arguments later today and eventually make a decision as to who will ultimately run this company. this has to be discouraging to dempsey, when we first reported the news he was so excited to preserve the brand but really the stakes are the highest for the 500 employees of tully's who are wondering who is going to take charge so for their sakes let's hope this gets resolved quickly. >> a.j. hammer thanks at usual. he'll be back in the next hour with more showbiz headlines including a huge announcement for justin timberlake's fans. vel your identity and turn your life upside down.

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47 minutes past the hour. time to check our top stories. president obama will take the oath of office for his second term in a little more than a week from now but his inaugural committee is scrambling to replace one key speaker, that would be pastor louis giglio. he will no longer give the benediction amid criticism about a sermon he gave in the 1990s about homosexuality, a sermon

one liberal website labeled as anti-gay. tony perkins of the family research council finds giglio's decision to pull out of the event is troublesome. >> this is further evidence of a desire to sanitize the public square of anyone who holds to biblical morality. >> giglio is the leader of the passion movement which recently wrapped up a conference in atlanta that attracted more than 60,000 college students. the future of afghanistan and the plan to withdraw u.s. troops will be discussed today and meetings with president barack obama, vice president joe biden and of agab stand's president hamid karzai. both heads of state will take part in a joint news conference coming up in about three hours from now. cnn's wolf blitzer and gloria borger will anchor our live special coverage. the department of transportation is going to conduct a comprehensive review of the boeing 787 dreamliner's

critical systems including design, manufacturing and assembly. secretary ray lahood spoke just moments ago. >> we will look for the root causes of recent events and do everything we can to ensure these events don't happen again. >> the 787 has had a difficult week, several jets were involved in public incidents, including a fire in the battery compartment and a fuel leak. some amazing pictures to show you out of australia. check this out. wow! it's a red dust storm. looks almost like a wall of fire, doesn't it? it comes on the outskirts of a strong tropical cyclone off the northwest coast of australia. it covered homes and cars and stuff but no serious damage to report, amazing. we'll be right back. t the numbes in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts.

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all right. "talk back" question of the day. should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality? this from melissa. well, we have freedom of speech and that means the freedom to not listen to hate-filled speeches. there's no need for a pastor at the inauguration in my opinion. it would be more inclusive without it. sure, but i think religions should be taxed if they get involved in politics. like them or not, they have every right to be part of the process. give the dude the opportunity to put forth his ideas before you toast him. people learn and change.

this from scott, i have no problem with the pastor speaking, although my opinion differs from his. i would welcome his presence at the speech. keep the conversation going facebook.com/carolcnn. headaches, sleepless nights. bernie kosar former nfl quarterback has had them all after playing ball. now kosar says a new treatment has stopped his symptoms. 

as we got confirmation that junior seau did indeed suffer from the brain disease cte, another former nfl player who took multiple hits speaks with hope for his future. and we are talking about former browns quarterback bernie kosar. i hope the treatment he's getting really does work. >> yeah, so far it has given him great progress and i think that that's hope not only for bernie but for other players who might be suffering. bernie kosar, great player with the cleveland browns and a couple of other teams. 13 years in the nfl. suffered at least a dozen concussions that he knows of, and he used to keep a packet of smelling salts in his uniform in case he got dinged during a game. for the past decade he suffered from headaches and ringing in his ears, insomnia, slurred speech, but he said he's turned a corner thanks to groundbreaking medical treatment from tampa, florida, based

doctor rickle stenogel. this is bernie. >> after a few weeks of treatment, really a few weeks of treatment, to be able to not have the ringing ears, to not have the headaches and, again, to be able to sleep through the night, no need for the medications, you know, all that stuff, it's been -- and, again, not to be overreligious or try to preach to you, but this is all happening during the holidays and i really thought it was, like, a gift from god. >> the doctor has been in touch with the nfl. they seem interested, so moving forward maybe this is going to offer relief for many more players. >> i know a little bit how this supposedly works. it increases the blood flows to his veins, he takes something intravenously that does it. >> right. and dietary supplements as well but in a few short weeks this treatment has offered him relief. a lot of players are coming forward saying, look, i need help and this could be the light at the end of the tunnel for us.

>> to hear the contrast to hear him at this press conference, he seems relatively well spoken and you've heard bernie kosar, he's had trouble speaking. >> he's always been very eloquent, he's a youngstown guy, so he's always had a regional accent. there was slurred speech and he did a radio spot in cleveland and it was disturbing to hear him and his delivery and he became emotional, couldn't get the words out, you know, people were speculating as to what might be wrong, so he's come forward with this and hopefully now bernie has turned a corner because he's such a hero in cleveland with the browns fans. >> hopefully he is and nobody deserves to live out the rest of his life with that damage. and let's talk about the nba, the sacramento kings in seattle? >> the deal was described first and goal at the 1 moving the kings up to seattle. the sonics lost basketball since 2008, however, the $500 million is not final right now. the maloof family owns the

kings, and they had a handshake deal with the city of sacramento last year for a new arena. that fell through. and now the latest snag may be the maloof family keeping a small percentage of the team if it goes to seattle and saying that they'd like some say-so in how the team is run which to me and mayor kevin johnson of sacramento trying to keep them in town. it sounds like i take your house and you tell me how to decorate it. if you own a small percentage, you relinquish the say-so. we're moving closer to a championship in the nfl play-offs and here's how it will play out. saturday the games the ravens into subzero denver or subfreezing denver, where peyton manning 0-3 in play-off games where the temperature is below 40 degrees. it will be 20s with some snow. san francisco will be playing the green bay packers and then on sunday seahawks travel to atlanta to take on the nfc top-seeded falcons, and also houston looking to avenge an earlier loss to the new england patriots. >> any predictions? >> i think that peyton manning

will be fine in this ravens game. he's the best in quarterbacks in the nfl. bleacherreport.com, all your news. >> thanks, vince. we appreciate it. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" begins right now. stories we're watching right now in the "newsroom" -- at this hour afghan president hamid karzai heads to the white house with a face-to-face meeting with president obama and the u.s. role in afghanistan's future. he won 1le had million playing the lottery, but the lucky man turns up dead from cyanide poising and now we're learning about a family feud and what might help police solve the mystery of who killed him. his remarks from 20 years ago are coming back to haunt this evangelical pastor, why he's pulling out of president obama's inauguration. plus -- ♪ i'm bringing sexy back yeah ♪ don't know how to act >> -- that, of course, is justin

timberlake, he's been focusing on his acting career the past few years but a new video on his website suggest the grammy winner might be going back to the recording studio. "newsroom" starts now. ♪ ♪ i'll let you with me if i misbehave ♪ and good morning to you, thank you so much for being with us. i'm carol costello. we begin in washington where president obama will soon meet with hamid karzai the president of afghanistan. karzai's week in washington has included a dinner with secretary of state hillary clinton and a meeting with outgoing defense secretary leon panetta, but face time with president obama is the meeting that could make headlines because u.s. troop levels in afghanistan will likely be a key topic. so, let's bring in white house correspondent dan lothian. what's expected to come out of this meeting? >> reporter: well, first of all, it's a chance for both of these leaders to sit down and talk about the future of afghanistan, both economically, the

transition that will take place and militarily. the big discussion obviously is what the u.s. footprint will look like in afghanistan after 2014. president obama during his first campaign and the last campaign promised to withdraw troops from afghanistan. it was part of his overall military strategy ending the war in iraq, winding down the war, and ending it in afghanistan. and so this big question, will there be some troops left in afghanistan after 2014. there's been talk recently that the drawdown could go down to zero, but we heard from leon panetta, the defense department yesterday, saying that that's a bad idea, that most likely it will be a few thousand troops on the ground there in afghanistan. but that's one of the main issues that will be discussed in this meeting here today. and i'll tell you what, you know, when you think about sort of the pressure on the president when it comes to afghanistan, you have to factor in what the public sentiment is about

afghanistan, and most recent polling that we have on this dates back to september, a cnn/orc poll that those who were asked about what was the most important issue facing the country today, only 3% said afghanistan. the majority, 48%, saying the economy. so, afghanistan, not a big issue for most americans, and so you can understand both from that standpoint and then financially when you look at the cost of the war, the pressures that are on the president to wind things down there very quickly. >> dan lothian reporting live from the white house this morning. we'll bring you president obama and hamid karzai's joint news conference live. wolf blitzer will anchor our special coverage that starts at 1:00 p.m. eastern. also this morning, at the white house, joe biden is racing the clock and the tuesday deadline to suggest ways of curbing gun violence. today, the vice president meets with members of the video game industry, those violent fantasy games always enter the discussion when young men carry out mass shootings like the one at sandy hook elementary school

and the one at the colorado movie theater in aurora. the nation's largest gun lobby, the nra, though, is angry and apparently backing away from the conversation on gun control. it met with vice president joe biden yesterday and it says the white house isn't really interested in a dialogue. >> going into this meeting what the president's position on so-called assault weapons ban is, theame position he's taken for years. these are not new positions. the vice president had said we do this with an open mind, but at the meeting he said, no, we've already made up our mind on that. no, there's not going to be an agreement on that. >> with such deeply divided interests it's easy to see how o opposing sides are becoming even more polarized, but common interest can be tested. jason carroll has a tale of two cities and different ways they work with state governments on gun control. >> reporter: the new year under way and already in new york city three police officers shot in two different incidents.

philadelphia, ivan johnson a temple university student, shot during an argument. he's among that city's first homicides of 2013. it was also her cousin -- >> children are just dying on the streets for no reason whatsoever. >> reporter: even before her cousin's death, johnson was mourning the loss of her son charles. shot two years ago. he was 19. >> anger and rage rise to the surface because there has to be something that we can do as a nation to get these guns off the streets. >> reporter: in order to battle crime, cities such as new york and philadelphia have looked to strengthen their gun control laws, and new york has done so. it has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country, including a ban on assault weapons, restrictions on ammunition clips over ten rounds, and mandatory background checks for gun buyers, including buyers from gun shows. philadelphia's mayor supported legislation banning assault weapons and so-called straw purchases of handguns in his

city. it passed, but was overturned by a state court. >> the state has taken the position that they should be the only ones who can legislate in the area of gun safety and gun regulation. many of us have a very different position. >> reporter: a key difference, new york city and new york state are on the same legislative page. pennsylvania and philadelphia worlds apart. >> philadelphia, unfortunately, has not had the same support from the legislature in harrisburg, they have not been willing to pass strong gun control laws, and we see the impact in philadelphia. >> reporter: in 2011, philadelphia saw 17 gun-related murders for 100,000 people. new york city, 4 per 100,000. mayor michael nutter said he will propose stricter gun control measures again. those opposed to it, new york's mayor would say this -- >> it would be interesting to see if they have the courage to come with me and explain to the police officer who got killed,

to their spouse or their child or their parent that it was a murder we could have stopped and we didn't have the courage to do. >> my son could still be here had it not been for someone with a gun. my cousin would still be here had it not been for someone with a gun. >> so, the question, carol, for people like mayor nutter and other mayors across the country who are trying to do the same thing, in mayor nutter's situation will he be successful this particular time in trying to get new gun legislation passed? well, we reached out to pennsylvania's governor, here's what he had to say, this is part of a statement that released. it says, if they, meaning philadelphia, were to craft gun laws in philadelphia which were more prohibitive than the rest of the state, it would not prevent criminals from obtaining those guns elsewhere and bringing them into philadelphia. our state laws must be uniform when it comes to gun regulations. so, when we mention there in the piece that you've got the city and the state that are worlds apart, it appears that still has not changed, carol? >> yeah, doesn't sound like it.

jason carroll reporting live for us this morning. just in to the "newsroom" -- a longtime senator said the current term in office will be his last. west virginia democrat jay rockefeller said he will not run for re-election next year. rockefeller who is the great grandson of the oil tycoon is in hi his fifth of office. turning to your health, the food and drug administration is just announcing dosage changes for some popular sleeping pills once prescribed to women. the fda is recommending sleep aids like ambien lower their recommended dosages from ten milligrams to five. that's because there's an ingredient in the drugs that women don't process as quickly as men. the fda also said the new labels will advise doctors to consider a lower dosage for men. it was a bit of better news from the government about this early flu season. 24 states now reporting high levels of flu activity. that's actually down from 29. but it's the youngest patients that can face the biggest health

threat from the flu. elizabeth cohen met with one mother and son who made it to the hospital just in time. >> reporter: darius carr is so sick with the flu, he's in the hospital. he could have died if not for the quick thinking of his mother. robbie kerry was keeping a close eye on her son at home. he didn't seem all that sick. then suddenly wednesday night -- >> he couldn't hardly breathe. he was, you know, gasping for, you know, breath, and that was real scary because i thought he was going to pass out at any minute. >> reporter: robbie immediately brought her 7-year-old son to the emergency room. it's just a short drive away, but by the time they got there, darius was incoherent. how did you feel in your heart when your own son didn't know who you were? >> you don't want to think the worst, but as a parent you can't help it, you know? >> reporter: the flu had struck darius hard. his asthma making it even worse. doctors had to give him oxygen. looking for red flags like r robbie did can save your child's

life, difficulty breathing, getting better and then sick again, a sign that a second infection has set in and refusing to drink, and a red flag darius' mom noticed extreme fatig fatigue. kids are usually lethargic. >> usually, but they perk back up. >> reporter: if there's no perking up? >> then there's a problem. >> reporter: when in doubt get your child to a doctor. i can't imagine if you hadn't brought him in. >> that's what i don't even want to think about and i'm just so glad that i did, follow that mom instinct and bring him in right away, you know, that may have saved his life. >> ah, elizabeth cohen joins us from ft. worth, texas, now. elizabeth, the cdc is releasing new information about the number of kids dying from the flu. what are you hearing from your sources? >> reporter: what i'm hearing is that this week's report has details on two new flu deaths for kids. that brings the pediatric flu

death total up to 20. and as far as cases go, kids who are sick with the flu, this hospital alone here in ft. worth has seen hundreds, hundreds, of kids every week with confirmed cases of the flu. but it's interesting they just told me those numbers seem to be tapering off a bit. >> well, at least that's a bit of better news. elizabeth cohen reporting live for us from texas this morning. the u.s. transportation secretary announced they'll review the boeing 787, and here's transportation secretary ray lahood -- >> today, we are announcing that we are conductening the comprehensive review of the design and production of the boeing 787. this review will cover the critical systems of the aircraft including design, manufacturing,

and assembly. >> boeing has said it's confident in the safety of the 787 aircraft. american express says it's going to cut more than 5,000 jobs in an effort to become more efficient. credit card giant says most cuts will be in its travel businesses, and no surprise it blames the internet for transferring the industry and forcing its hands. american express said the cuts will be offset by some new hiring, but overall staffing will be reduced. it's a whole different story, though, at ford, the company announced it was adding 2,200 white collar workers this year, in addition to the more than 2,300 hourly jobs the company announced it was going to add last month. alison kosik with the new york stock exchange. why such robust hiring at ford? >> this is an example of demand, carol, how it ultimately drives hiring in unemployment. and ford needs more people to keep up with growing sales. you look at last year, 2012, it was solid for ford, the sales

have been rising steadily in 2013, and it's up 13%, its best annual total in five years and it added over 8,000 combined salaried and hourly workers and it's been a net positive for the sluggish u.s. jobs recovery and they of announcing the big e addition of white collar jobs in more than a decade, and it will be positions that help with product development, engineering and software jobs, what it shows is the company expects this kind of growth to continue. plus, you top it off with ford rewarding its hair showeders. the company said yesterday it will sweeten its dividend and double the dividend and that's another sign, carol, of overall sales and confident for future sales growth at least for ford, carol? >> are any of the other auto manufacturers hiring? >> the manufacturing industry has been sort of a comeback kid for jobs as well especially last year, you look at car and car parts manufacturing jobs, they jumped almost 5% in december and more than 50% for the year. and it's not just in blue collar jobs, it's also growth in white

collar jobs, too, you look at october for general motors. gm adding 3,000 i.t. jobs in october. chrysler added more than 1,200 assembly line jobs in november. dealerships are also seeing the big gains. so, the great thing about this is, carol, that all of this is demand driven. people are buying more cars and the fact of the matter is the automakers and manufacturers need more people to make them, carol? >> understood. alison kosik, thanks so much. a man scores $1 million scratch-off lottery ticket and he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. he dies hours later. now, authorities are trying to solve himself murder. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families

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16 minutes past the hour, time to check our top stories. the man accused of killing 12 people inside a colorado theater last summer could enter a plea this morning at his scheduled arraignment. a colorado judge ruled there is enough evidence for james holmes to stand trial on all 166 counts including first-degree murder. we're learning new information about last year's scandal surrounding the u.s. secret service in colombia. an inspector general's report said a drug enforcement agent arranged a meeting between a secret service agent and a prostitute. this is just days before president obama -- president obama's scheduled visit to colombia. the report also found three dea agents admitted to paying for sexual services. new york police say a suspect planned to blow up the arch in the city's washington square park. police arrested aaron green two weeks ago after they found an explosive substance and a sawed-off shotgun in his apartment.

officers had come to the apartment to serve an unrelated warrant to green's girlfriend. a lottery winner, a small fortune, a mysterious murder and a family feud. it sounds like the making of a tv movie, but it's the latest investigation in to the death of a very you clucky man. the state's attorney in chicago wants to dig up the body to find out who poisoned him. here's cnn's martin savidge. >> reporter: this is the story of how a simple scratch may have killed a man. he moved to chicago from india in the late 1980s and became an american success. eventually owning a string of dry cleaners and real estate. settling into this house on the city's far north side with his wife and teenage daughter. by all accounts, he was a hardworking, well-liked man, with just one weakness, he loved those scratch-off lottery tickets. >> he was heavy on that, you

know? you know, there was a time when he would buy a whole book, we're talking about 30 tickets in a book, that's $600. >> reporter: he'd win, sometimes hundreds, even thousands. then last june he bought two tickets and scratched off a fortune. >> the second one was the lucky one. >> reporter: and what did he win? >> $1 million. >> reporter: a whole million. he was all smiles in this illinois lottery picture. friends say he was excited about the good he could do with all that money. but a month later, instead of leaving on easy street, khan was dead, in the rose hills cemetery. on the evening of july 20th his wife made dinner at home and he went to bed a little less than an hour later. she said she was awakened by his screams of agony. khan was rushed to a nearby hospital, but it was too late. he was pronounced dead. doctors said the 46-year-old died of natural causes, but later that week an urgent call came into the cook county

medical examiner's office from a concerned relative. >> this person must have made a compelling case, enough, you know, we take all information seriously, but this was serious enough to order a full battery of toxicology including some unusual agents such as cyanide and strychnine. >> reporter: both deadly poison, so acting on the caller's information, lab technicians retested khan's blood and discovered an old killer. >> when they came back in late november, it was definitely in the lethal range in the published literature for cyanide in the blood. >> reporter: i called up science journalist debra blum author of "the poisoner's handbook." she said cyanide poisoning is a horrible way to go and screaming part of it. >> and they'll talk about the classic cyanide death scream, right? it's almost an involuntary contraction of your dying muscle. >> reporter: it's almost a trademark then of cyanide? >> it absolutely is. >> reporter: but how did the

poison get into khan and who could have been responsible? the answers may rest in khan's stomach. it's one reason the medical examiner wants his body exhumed. i would think one of the things you would clearly focus on is what was the last meal or the last food consumed, would that be of interest? >> well, as part of any autopsy we look at the gastric contents, in some cases we analyze them if it's relevant to the case. so, this case we certainly would be looking at the gastric contents but that's part of any forensic autopsy. >> reporter: khan's widow is inside here running the family business. i asked her for an interview but she said she's simply not ready to talk. she did tell me, though, that she and her husband very much in love and they were close beyond words and she supports the exhumation of his body and hope it will reveal the truth. but probing court documents suggest it's not so well between khan and his siblings. they paint a picture of the family deeply divided over control of khan's estate

especially his lottery winning, that after taxes came to about $450,000. today no arrests have been made in khan's murder, but in khan's neighborhood, rumors spread and fingers point as the deadly duel as old as time may have struck once more on chicago's north side. greed and poison. >> that if it was truly murder, that's sad. that gets to the point where i believe that when they say money's the root of all evil, it is true. >> reporter: martin savidge, cnn, chicago. >> wow. "talk back" question for you today -- should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality? facebook.com/carolcnn. or tweet me @carolcnn. i'll be right back.

now's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day, the question this morning should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality? president obama asked reverend louie giglio an atlanta pastor to deliver the benediction at the inauguration. this is a man with the power to attract 60,000 people in the honorable fight against modern-day slavery, everything was a go, until gay rights groups uncovered this sermon giglio gave back in the '90s -- >> if you look at the counsel of the word of god, old testament, new testament, you come quickly to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle.

homosexuality is not just a sexual preference. homosexuality is not gay, but homosexuality is sin. >> after a backlash, he said the issue of homosexuality is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate. however, the individual views on any subject is a critical balance that we must recover and preserve end, quote. it brings up a larger question, you'd be hard-pressed to find many clergymen to accept homosexuality, and michael cromartie of the ethics of public policy center, says why not let giglio pray. homes not being named to a cabinet position. truth is all sorts of people deliver prayers who we don't agree with on a number of issues, still many feel that gay rights like marriage equality is a civil rights issue.

the "talk back" question for you today, should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality. facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn. or tweet me at @carolcnn. i'll be right back.

good morning. thank you so much for being with us, i'm carol costello. time to check the top stories. the federal government wants to give boeing's newest airline another look. the department of transportation will conduct a comprehensive review of the boeing 787

dreamlin dreamliner's critical systems including design, manufacturing, and assembly. the federal government says the aircraft are safe to fly. the 787 has had a pretty difficult week, though, incidents include a fire that started in the battery compartment of a japanese airliner and a fuel leak in another japan airlines jet. afghan president hamid karzai arriving at the white house minutes ago for a one-on-one meeting with president obama. the future of u.s. troops in afghanistan topped the agenda. both heads of state will take part in a joint news conference coming up in a little more than two hours from now. cnn's wolf blitzer and gloria borger will anchor our special live coverage. vice president joe biden said his panel on gun violence will present recommendation tuesday. he said it will serve as a beginning and not an end to the discussion. president obama called for the task force after the massacre in newtown, connecticut. in a little more than a week president obama will take the

oath of office for his second term, but his inaugural committee is struggling to replace one key speaker, pastor louie giglio will no longer give the bendiction over criticism of a sermon he gave in the '90s over homosexuality. joining me now are wayne bessen the executive direct of truth wins out a nonprofit group that fights what it calls, quote, anti-gay extreme and senior sprig a senior fellow from the family research council, welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> wayne, why the objection to this pastor? >> there are a lot of pastors in this country who are pro-gay, are progressive who aren't anti-gay and gave horrible sermons that basically dehuman nice and demonize an entire group of people. there are people who not the progressive wing but there are those who are even baptists, for example. the president could have gone to the interfaith alliance, he

could have gone to the auburn theological seminary and their groundswell program and found real preachers that were inclusive instead of exclusive who accepted everybody and didn't reject them. it sends the wrong message and he would have cast a huge shadow over the entire inauguration with the mean-spirited message against gay people and americans are no longer putting up with it. most people don't want to see their sons, their daughters, their friends or family members dehumanized in such a mean-spirited way and they're fighting back, they're saying enough. enough of the hate. too many young people are harming themselves because they received such ugly messages wrapped up in the guise of religion. >> i'd like to give peter a chance to respond. so, peter, in your mind, basically what he said was that homosexuality is a sin and he's certainly not in favor of same-sex marriage, many religious people feel this way. your response to wayne? >> none of the quotes that i've

seen from pastor giglio are at all out of the mainstream of christian orthodoxt thy or contemporary evangelical thought, if he's to be blacklisted for his opinions you are essentially blacklisting all evangelicals and bible believing christians and all roman catholics who believe in the teachings of their church, i think that's a shocking position to take. >> i also think that pastor giglio, wayne, he said he didn't want to get involved in cultural issues, he simply wanted to pray for the country. >> well, i think he was very much involved in issues. >> exactly. >> if we had found -- if we had found a video like this bashing any other minority, he would have been gone before he could take a second breath. the times have changed. people are no longer having a gay exception to the rules of civility and decency, no more will we be able to bash people and say they can pray away the gay without people speaking up and saying that they don't like that, and this is the world we live in. people are no longer going to

allow gay people to be thrown under the bus and be treated as second class citizens and we're entitled with our first amendment rights to speak out against the bigotry and wrath. >> in a blog post he said the following the issue of homosexuality is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate, but the rights of freedom and the collective rights and the differing views on any subject is a critical balance we as a people must recover and preserve. is this a slippery path? do we risk silencing some with differing views? should we be more accepting and? peter, i suspect you would think so? >> absolutely. i mean, the world we live in unfortunately is increasingly marked by the enforcement of intolerance in the name of tolerance, exclusion in the name of inclusion, and forced uniformity in the name of diversity. it's contradictory, it's downright orwellian, and yet people actually make the

statements unbelievably with a straight face. >> peter -- >> when -- >> peter, i find it ironic that you are embracing diversity. i mean, you called for the imprisonment of gay people and said we should export homosexuals out of the united states and suddenly you're for tolerance? i'm a little confused here. >> well, this is about pastor giglio and president obama, it's not about me. >> wayne is right about that, peter. >> i want to emphasize that when somebody says that homosexuality is a sin, they are talking about a person's conduct, not about their person -- their inherent personal dignity. the christian theology teaches that all people, including those with same-sex attractions, are created in the image of god. but it also treats -- it also teaches that all people, you, carol, me, wayne, all of us, are

sinners who can be saved only by the grace of god. and that's what needs to be emphasized here. >> well, i deal with preachers every single day that claim -- >> allow wayne -- >> and they disagree with you. >> and there are many things in the bible about women perhaps that many women would object to, not everything in the bible -- i mean, people have their own interpretations of the bible, not all people feel the same, correct? >> that's correct. i would also point out -- >> go ahead, peter. >> i'd also point out that there was a poll taken just last september which asked whether people thought that someone having a sexual relations -- sexual relations between two adult dids of the same gender was morally wrong or morally acceptable. 52% said it was morally wrong. 42% said it was morally acceptable. >> how do you explain the majority of the people of the country believing in same-sex

marriage, then? how do you explain that? it doesn't jive with polling how people feel about same-sex marriage in america? most people think it's okay. it's about time. >> it -- how you jive it is because when you focus on the real issue which is people's sexual conduct. they do not approve of the sexual conduct. if you frame it in a biace sed in terms of rights and so forth, it tilts the results of the poll. >> wayne, i just want -- >> go ahead, i'm sorry. >> i just want to ask you one final question about pastors in general and what they believe or don't believe. i mean, a lot of pastors don't believe in abortion. they're no pro-choice. should they not speak, too? where do you draw the line? because you're not going to agree with everybody all the time especially when it comes to religion. >> i think a lot of it's also temperament. i think when you aggressively and go after an entire group of people and condemn them, say

they're going to hell, they can pray away the gay, which simply is not true, and in a really mean way dehumanize them, i think that's where you draw the line. there's room for differences. but i think we're quickly seeing that the vast majority of people don't want to see gay bashing anymore. that's an issue of the past. they want to see people treated well. they want to see them treated equally with dignity and respect and i think that's where the american people are today. and i think this pastor was not where the american people are today. and i think that's good. i think that's a great step in america. >> and we'll leave it right there. thank you, both of you, for coming in and essprg yoxpressin viewpoints. thank you so much. we keep hearing about the dangers of head injuries like concussions. should you let your children play contact sports like football? it's a tough question for parents to answer. we're going to try to help next. [ male announcer ] now you can swipe...

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41 minutes past the hour. there are a lot of parents who are going to have second thoughts about letting their children play football. is it too dangerous? just yesterday we learned that nfl pro bowler junior seau suffered from a degenerative brain disease when he committed suicide last year. scientists say it was likely

caused by 20 years of hits to his head. the concerns over concussions and head injuries are front and center right now, not just in football, but in all sports. dr. robert cantu is the co-director of the neurological sports injury center. good morning, doctor. >> good morning. >> i have heard from so many parents concerned about letting their kids play football. should they? >> well, carol, i think it's the age that's crucial. junior seau played 20 years at the national football league level, but he played in college and he played in high school and earlier in his life, so it's really the total number of years that he was taking hits to the head that led to what he ultimately had, unfortunately, cte. and, yes, no question that the 20 years in the nfl was the majority. but i think the issue is, i believe very strongly, kids under the age of 14 should be playing flag football not tackle football. not taking the shots to the head. but from the ages of 14 on up,

if individuals understand the risks and they have passion for the sport, i wouldn't say don't play it, but i would say play it wisely and play it with proper technique and that means not hitting with your head. >> see, if i'm a parent that still really concerns me because a 14-year-old might not be ready to understand the consequences of playing football. and how do you explain to that kid what might happen, and more importantly, how can that child protect himself? >> well, there is no absolute way of protecting yourself playing tackle football. in the act of tackling, that's when most of the concussions happen because that's when most of the head contact happens. so, tackle football has inherent risks, unquestionably. and if you're going to play it, you have to understand that concussions can occur and more likely than not will occur. most importantly, not just the

concussion-level blows, but all the blows to the head, if you take enough over enough years, can add up. unfortunately in our series of 68 case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy recently published last month in december in the journal "brain" six of those cases were high school players. >> oh. that's really scary. the cleveland browns quarterback, the former cleveland browns quarterback, bernie kosar, he says that he has suffered for years from the hits he took while playing football and he found this doctor in tampa who can actually give him injections of something that increases the blood flow to his brain and bernie kosar says that's actually helping to repair his brain. i know you can't specifically comment on this doctor's treatment, but is there any way you know of that can repair damage to the brain? >> not actual damage. but there are many therapies that can be useful in helping an individual have the symptoms of

post concussion syndrome, which is what i assume bernie has, although i've never seen him and don't know first hand, the symptoms can be treated. they can be treated with a variety of therapies depending upon what the symptoms are, if they are primarily cognitive symptoms and therapy, if there are balance issues, there are therapies for the upper cervical spine as well. and the symptoms can be treated and quality of life improved. structural damage to the brain, no, so far as of today we know of nothing that will reverse structural damage. >> i know you're working on it though -- >> yeah. >> -- and i'm glad you are, dr. robert cantu with the sports neurological center, thank you for being here. a new video on justin timberlake's website suggests the grammy winner might be taking a break from hollywood to get back to his musical roots.

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you may have seen justin timberlake on the big screen recently. he's been in the "social network," "bad teacher" but a new video on his website suggests the grammy winner might be turning the attention back to his first love, music. >> look, i've only done two

albums in ten years, that's the way i really look at it. what does the next decade mean for me. >> hmm. "showbiz's" a.j. hammer joins us live to see into the mind of justin timberlake. >> i can't reveal what my contacts are telling me, but judging by the video and what he's doing he's being coy about the new venture. the first thing he did was post a mysterious tweet, it had nothing in it except january 10th, 2013 at 9:01 a.m. pacific standard time and that led to speculation he'd be beannouncin plans to release a new album. and then we saw a countdown clock went up online. the countdown ends on monday morning. so, then we have to see what that part of the puzzle means. in the video that we showed you a bit of, he also said i don't want to put out anything i feel

like is something i don't love, you just don't get that every day, you have to wait for it, but i think it's pretty clear what he's doing here. some people aren't in love with this tactic. a critic online called it a pretentious publicity stunt, i find it ridiculous. but his last album was huge, it came out in '06, it was a wild success, multiplatinum more than 4 million copies sold, very high expectations for whatever else he has coming out, but i'll also point out as we piece it together it wasn't lost as people that beyonce is quoted in the new "gq" article saying her and justin are working together on a new track. that could be one of the new songs on the album, maybe it's a beyonce song, and beyonce are excited because she's announced a new destiny child's album is coming out, the first one in eight years. it's concrete. i don't have to read into anybody's mind to tell you that and we're getting a new destiny's child and i think people will love it and eat it

up. >> you are quite the detective. quite the detective. >> that's me, yeah. >> thanks so much, a.j. watch "showbiz tonight" at 11:00 eastern on hln. how can an economic crisis in europe affect the market for guitars here in the united states? you might be surprised.

unemployment in europe hit a record high this week and that makes some u.s. firms that trade

heavily overseas pretty darn nervous, among them one of the world's most prestigious guitar makers. tom foreman takes us on this week's "american journey." paul reid smith guitars are prized around the globe played by professionals like carlos santana on his hit "smooth." and amateurs, too. >> about 50% of all the guitars made in this building go overseas so it's about half our business. >> reporter: no wonder at the paul reid smith plant in maryland where craftsmen turn out 1,000 instruments a month the founder is watching the european market closely. >> if the exchange rate goes one way, we sell a lot more stuff. if it goes the other way, we sell less because it became more expensive in their country or it became less expensive. >> reporter: you've seen that happen. >> oh, god yes, every day. >> reporter: specifically this is how volatility could affect them. this guitar, for example, which would sell for around $3,000 in

the u.s. is being shipped to europe today. if the euro is strong and the economy's stable when it arrives, all is well. but if the euro gets devalued or the banks or the stocks are in trouble, this american-made product can find itself facing some real hurdles. the shop that wants to order it may be unable to get a loan for its inventory, therefore, the instrument never gets shipped. or the customer who wants to buy this guitar may find that his money is now worth so little he can't afford it. and if this drought and the revenue stream continues pushing more businesses and more governments toward default on their debt, then there's a risk of the whole market drying up. so, everyone knows each time a shipment arrives in europe like this one, unpredictable market forces here could undermine the value of those guitars and force layoffs back home.

>> the last few years just thinking about the economy in general, it's kind of a generalized fear. >> reporter: for now they control what they can. >> if we do a better job when somebody's looking to buy a guitar, they'll look more to our stuff than the other stuff. over time. >> reporter: and they just hope that economic waves from europe don't come crashing against american shores. tom foreman, cnn, stephensville, maryland. "talk back" question for you today, should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality. facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll be back with your comments. ♪ [ male announcer ] a european-inspired suspension, but it's not from germany. ♪ a powerful, fuel-efficient engine, but it's not from japan. ♪

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"talk back" question for you today, should we welcome pastors in the public square despite their views on homosexuality? this from charles, no, until they fully accept others as equals, why should they be accepted as an equal. this from jim, yes, what are they going to do? pick someone with the ops sit viewpoint? you'll have an uproar from the other side. this from lindsay, don't pick anyone. prayer has no place in politics, and this from kim, when pastors give as much attention to adultery and divorce, i'll believe they are preaching their beliefs. when they single out one group this way it's nothing more than bigotry. thank you for the interesting conversation. so many comments today. thank you. facebook.com/carolcnn. if you'd like to continue the conversation or tweet me at @carolcnn. and thank you so much for joining me today. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with ashleigh banfield. >>